<p>Unbelievable... whichever professor invited this guy to be the guest speaker for a lecture should be fired immediately. </p>
<p>'Jersey</a> Shore' Vinny -- Let's Pretend I'm Raping You | TMZ.com</p>
<p>A student invited him, IIRC.</p>
<p>Ignoring the details, just as you seem to be…</p>
<p>It’s academia, the whole point is exposing yourself to other ideas, critically discussing things, etc. You don’t see any way that the star of a cultural phenomenon might have something relevant to such a discussion?</p>
<p>To be clear, you’re arguing that a class discussing anti-bullying campaigns doesn’t benefit from the perspective of a celebrity who’s chosen to be the spokesman for one of these campaigns? I really hope you’re not a Columbia student!</p>
<p>I don’t understand why you are so offended by this either. You probably weren’t even at the talk.</p>
<p>um, pwoods, just because he’s a “spokesman for a campaign” doesn’t mean he is genuine to the cause or isn’t trying to extract some free publicity. That’s not even considering the fact that these people make a living off of a molded public image. Naive much?</p>
<p>No. I am arguing someone who promotes obscene lyrics</p>
<p>would never be an appropriate candidate as a guest speaker. </p>
<p>And no. I don’t care if he’s in Jersey Shore or not.</p>
<p>100% agree with UCLA. And I would have loved to see his facial expression after the student asked that question. What qualifies him to speak on any academic matter? Because he was bullied? Oh, so he’s an expert then. There are thousands of kids that are bullied, but you don’t see Columbia soliciting their services. This reeks of publicity stunt and his only relevance to “guest speaker” is the jersey shore. It is unfortunate that he had gall to pursue this appearance and think he could be taken as a credible guest speaker. Furthermore, for students paying such exorbitant tuition rates, I would be offended that this clown would waste any of my resources and time. Hopefully this did not occur as an in-class event.</p>
<p>And going off what iggs said, maybe he wouldn’t have been bullied if he had some self-control and was anything close to normal. This is like when Rutgers payed Snooki thousands of dollars to talk.</p>
<p>I agree with pwoods. I’m in the class and, in context, it made perfect sense. Vinny, or Bunny as my iPhone likes to call him, was invited by a student who is a campus rep for DoSomething.org. We were just about to start a discussion on a book on school shootings and the role that bullying played in provoking the shooters. </p>
<p>Not all classroom guests are going to be intellectual, charismatic celebrities. Further, I’d argue for inviting more people like Vin. You can learn a lot, presuming you can stomach it, from disagreement, too.</p>
<p>You are totally right that not all classroom guests are going to be intellectual or have celebrity status. However, a lecture guest speaker should have some decency and moral. I have ZERO problem if an average joe or a reality TV star speaks in a lecture, but someone who promotes obscene lyrics like that is not suitable to be a guest speaker at ANY school.</p>
<p>
What is moral? Who set’s the moral, you? Is it your class? Did you teach this class? Did you set the rules for this class? Have you ever sat in this class? Do you even know the context of this class?
Please answer. If you don’t/can’t, it suggests you don’t know the full picture of the course. From the looks of it, you just got this off of a entertainment website and decided to display your dislike to the speaker.
Also, Columbia fosters individuality, not conformity. You might have something against certain celebrities, but not everyone does, Conan O’Brien swore during his Dartmouth graduation speech. Oops, time to sue Dartmouth right?
Just because the speaker doesn’t follow your sense of morality, doesn’t mean he can’t be a speaker. Why should we conform to you?</p>
<p>As Emerson once said:
"It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. "</p>
<p>
So HYPOCRITICAL! Isn’t that pretty much BULLYING, wanting to humiliate somebody? You really want Columbia to repeat it’s experience when students laughed at a wounded soldier? Looks like it. [Wounded</a> Iraq veteran jeered for speaking in Columbia University ROTC debate - NYPOST.com](<a href=“http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/hero_unwelcome_Zi3u1fwtRpo87vXAiAQfSN]Wounded”>Hero’s unwelcome)</p>
<p>Let’s stop using the NY Post and TMZ as source material for discussions.</p>
<p>um coffeeannabor, there are certain repercussions that arise out of taking a course of action. This “reality show star” thought he was qualified, as a guest lecturer, to speak before an intellectual group in an intellectual setting. If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. The fact that I find it fitting that he was stumped is probably the same thing the student was probably after. There is obviously much to be inferred when an audience member or student OPENLY CHALLENGES you. It speaks to the lack of respect, and likely the disgust, that many hold for this farce of an event. Just because a student or professor proposes an appearance as some kind of misguided attempt at diversity does not make it a good idea. Well-intentioned, but not good. I am 100% certain that had the guest speaker been a respected member of some community or even a celebrity with a credible agenda to help people, that person’s appearance would not be resented, and he wouldn’t be “put on the spot.” How does this person make a concerted effort to help the “bullied” community? Where are his advocacy groups? I rest my case.</p>
<p>And speaking of hypocrisy, does going to night clubs with your posse and intentionally seeking confrontations with other guys and girls count as bullying, or just acting like an idiot? What about fist fights? If your answer is yes, you clearly don’t watch the show. I’m going to lecture a classroom full of intelligent people about the adverse effects of bullying; hope they take me seriously. Oh, that stuff we did on tv? Don’t mind that; thats just my alter-ego. It’s created so that I can continue signing fat checks by getting dopes to tune in to my “reality show.” Once the ratings are high enough, I can get enough exposure to guest lecture at Ivy league universities.</p>
<p>Look, if you guys want to seriously argue that speakers should not be invited because they have “obscene lyrics” or are “immoral,” then I think you should seriously consider whether Columbia is a good school for you. Students and faculty invite controversial speakers all the time, because we love to hear different points of view. Remember in 2007 when Columbia invited Ahmadinejad?</p>
<p>Pwoods, you are in no position to tell someone whether a school is or isn’t right for him/her. Part of being a mature adult (i take it you’re, what, ~20?) is conceding that you will not always agree with everyone’s opinion. Would you tell everyone at Columbia who disagrees with this move that they should reconsider schools? Conflicting opinions are ok. Instead of making accusations, why don’t you present a counter argument besides “Columbia will always do controversial things because we’re so liberal and open minded!” You will have a hard time adjusting to things outside of college if you make such sweeping statements.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to argue that someone with certain views would not fit in at Columbia, but that someone who’s not open-minded enough to attend a college that invites a diverse array of speakers would probably not fit in at Columbia. The fact is that Columbia is a very intellectually and culturally diverse place, and they host a large number of speakers each year, a decent subset of whom are controversial. If you don’t want to attend a school that offers that, then why would you want to attend Columbia?</p>
<p>Great, lets invite a bunch of criminals to speak to us, so we’ll commit the same crimes and go to jail just like them. </p>
<p>Being open minded is great, but being open minded to obscene stuff is not cool. I want to be open minded to different cultures, but I don’t want to be open minded to something that promotes abusing women. </p>
<p>To the guy who compares Conan to Vinny, think about the context where the words are used. Conan never demeans women like Vinny’s lyric. Even if Conan uses F-bomb, he uses it with the intention of being funny, as all comedians try to do.</p>
<p>pwoods, who is arguing against a diverse array of speakers? LOL dude, talk about coming out of left field…We are arguing against VINNY from the JERSEY SHORE. Please stay on topic. The president of Iran, while hugely controversial, is both politically and socially relevant. So please, tell me again, what does vinny from the jersey shore have to offer in the way of academic discourse?</p>